


A merry little Christmas

by Elisexyz



Series: 25 days of Swanfire fic-mas [16]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emma and Neal raise Henry, F/M, Fluff, Tallahassee AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 09:19:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17118629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elisexyz/pseuds/Elisexyz
Summary: It's Henry's first Christmas, although he's only a few months old. Emma isn't really feeling it.





	A merry little Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "All I want for Christmas is you" prompt in the [ "25 days of fic-mas" challenge on Tumblr](http://heytheredeann.tumblr.com/tagged/25-days-of-fic-mas/chrono). A bunch of pointless fluff because I can.

“Okay, he’s sleeping,” Neal sighs, dropping soundly on the couch right next to her. He looks like he hasn’t got any decent sleep in months, and honestly it _feels_ like it for her too. She can’t wait until Henry will be old enough to sleep through the damn night. “I’m betting five bucks that it doesn’t even last an hour,” he adds, with an half-amused and half-exasperated smile, sliding his arm around her shoulders.

Emma shifts closer, dragging her blanket with her and throwing it over his legs too.

“What are we watching?” he asks, nodding at the movie on tv. Right now, the characters are in the middle of a disastrous Christmas dinner, with some relatives fighting, others facepalming, and kids throwing food.

“Some comedy,” Emma mutters, a grimace twisting her face. “I haven’t been following much, but it probably sucks.”

That came out way grumpier than intended.

Neal stays silent for a few moments, and she can imagine the little confused frown on his face as he tries to decide what to do about it. Finally, he gently pulls away and invites her to do the same with a little nudge, so that he can look at her in the eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his eyes searching for some clue on her face.

Emma knows that she’s being silly and that she’s probably just very tired, since they’ve had a lot of changes occurring in a very short time, between the moving and the working and a new-born, but she finds that she doesn’t want to hold it back anymore: it has been eating away at her stomach since the holidays started and they decided that they didn’t have money to spare for Christmas decorations. Neal still got them a small cheap tree with some balls included, but it looks very sad even for their small apartment.

“It’s Henry’s first Christmas,” she explains, her eyes dropping for a moment. “And we can’t afford _anything_.”

Neal doesn’t immediately answer, seemingly taken-aback by her comment, then his lips twist in a comforting smile, and he rubs her arm reassuringly.

“He’s too small, he won’t even remember this one. We can celebrate next year, I’m sure we’ll have more money by then,” he offers, gently.

“ _We_ will remember it though,” she protests. “I will remember that Henry’s first Christmas was very dull and that we spent it being glad that he fell asleep for a change. It’s our first Christmas as a family, it should be— special.” She pauses, and when he doesn’t say anything, staring at her in silence, she feels a wave of embarrassment washing through her. “I know it’s dumb,” she immediately amends. “I just—”

“It’s not dumb,” he assures. At her dubious look, he shakes his head decisively. “It really isn’t, I get it, just— look, next Christmas will be all for Henry, we’ll decorate and take pictures and we’ll show them all to him when he’s older. This year it’s just for us, and— it _is_ special, you know? You said it, we are a proper family now, it’s already special.”

“You’re a sap,” she comments, a small smile making its way onto her lips before she even realizes it.

He shrugs. “It’s true. Last year it was in a car, this year we have an house and a little tree and a tv. Next year it will be a proper Christmas, I promise, but right now? Being here with you makes it special enough.”

She feels a huge wave of affection towards him, and she rolls with the sudden urge of throwing herself at him, sinking into his arms and smiling widely against his chest. He’s just so _sappy_. She’s aware that she can be pretty cynical, but he makes her look like the grumpiest, most pessimistic person in the whole world, because he comes out with that kind of sweet speeches and he means _every_ word.

She often wonders how the hell he came out of it all like _that_ , when she’s well aware that his life sucked just as much as hers. She also wonders how it is possible that she suddenly became lucky enough to find him.

“I’ll take it that I convinced you?” he jokes, rubbing her back and laying a kiss on her head.

She snorts, amused. “Yeah, you did. I’m so glad I got you.”

“Me too, Emma. Me too.”

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including: 
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> If you don’t want a reply, for any reason, feel free to sign your comment with “whisper” and I will appreciate it but not respond!


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